


Untitled

by A Passing Housewife (flourchildwrites)



Series: Fullmetal Alchemist Tumblr Events [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family Feels, Family or Love Prompt, Fertility Issues, Fluff, Found Family, Love, Marriage, Moms Made Fullmetal 2018, Motherhood, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Short One Shot, Strong Female Characters, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 21:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flourchildwrites/pseuds/A%20Passing%20Housewife
Summary: A soft touch with a wise man’s frown.  A warm grin spreading love all around.  A selfless heart where home can always be found.  That’s what mothers are made of.Written for Moms Made Fullmetal 2018





	Untitled

The Elric brothers have no shortage of surrogate mothers.  In every season of their lives, there is a new person stepping into the large shoes left empty by Trisha Elric, a woman who, in the rose-colored lens of hindsight, is nothing short of sunshine incarnate.  Individually, no one can measure up, but together the fragmented chain of warm smiles and tough love produces a pair of sons that any person would be honored to call their own.

Izumi Curtis would be proud to call Edward and Alphonse hers, but she doesn’t.  Though from time to time, she thinks it and feels it. Motherhood isn’t a sentimental label to be conveniently tossed around during fleeting moments of self-serving praise.  Or so she tells Sig when he questions her decision to call the Elric brothers “former students” to well-meaning townsfolk who frequent their butcher shop.

And when a pretty invitation arrives at their home in Dublith, trimmed in artfully ragged edges with elegant golden calligraphy, Izumi does not act as a mother would.  She slips the bearer of good tidings back in the envelope and places the fine stationery to the side in stunned disbelief. The news hits her in the stomach like the unexpected roundhouse kicks she lands on her boys when they visit.  She’s breathless and blind-sighted by the news.

Marriage is a familiar beast to the veteran housewife.  Izumi understands it and respects the sanctity of vows and rings, cake and champagne.  And it isn’t that the couple in question isn’t suited for marital bliss; they are. It’s the first line of weighted words displayed in a pretty arch over the names of Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell.

  
_Together with their growing family_

  
_Edward Elric_  
_and_  
_Winry Rockbell_

 _  
_ _request the pleasure of your company at their wedding_

  
Growing? _Growing..._

The ceremony is set a mere month in the future, and not even Sig can miss the subtext when Izumi finally shows him the invitation a week later.  The burly bear of a man cleans his hands between the folds of a butcher shop dishcloth and tentatively straightens out the delicate paper, now wrinkled from being wrung between his wife’s damp palms. The crow’s feet around Izumi’s onyx eyes frame orbs that have lost their ferocity, and she refuses to meet her husband’s gaze for the first time in recent memory.  Izumi turns away so that Sig doesn’t see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that he has also lost something.  Other times, it is inescapable. Sig is so gentle and kind and undeserving of a home that will always be too big for just two.

“How about that,” Sig says in a purposefully upbeat voice.  From behind her, he wraps his muscular arms around his wife’s slender waist.  Izumi can feel the steady cadence of his breathing as Sig pulls her toward the warmth of his body.  “I guess those crazy kids just couldn’t wait.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little crass to announce it in a wedding invitation?” Izumi asks.  She knows the question is unfair, fueled by a volatile cocktail of emotions. Regret, anger, longing and sadness.  They are old companions, relics of her Truth.

“Would you rather it have been an in-person surprise?”  

Izumi doesn’t respond.  Instead, she swallows the bitter lump in her throat and swipes the delicate skin under her eyes free of salty tears.  Izumi straightens up, propped by a thousand meaningless platitudes, and readies her faux enthusiasm as she reaches for the receiver of the butcher shop’s telephone to make the call that's a week overdue.  Stuck in a disembodied haze, she dials “0” and requests that the operator connects her to Rockbell Automail in Resembool.

She secretly hopes that no one will answer, but a young woman’s cheery voice comes through loud and clear.

“Winry!” Izumi’s greeting is warm, but there is a harsh juxtaposition between the forced levity in her voice and the strained look of her features.  The mood in the backstore of the butcher shop is heavy as Izumi’s knuckles turn white from her firm grip on the receiver. “I’ve just seen the invitation.  Congratulations on the engagement. Sig and I are so happy for you.

“Yes, we wouldn’t miss it for the world.  But we were wondering, given the wording you chose and the date being so close if there was anything Ed forgot to mention to us. If it’s what I think it is, I’ve got a bone to pick with my former student.”

Asking is a faux pas, Izumi knows, but the Elrics are family in every way that matters.  Even Ed, for all his thick-headedness, will understand why she should be certain in advance.  And maybe that was why he hesitated to tell her in the first place.

 Winry joyfully confirms Izumi’s suspicion, and the housewife swears she can feel the young woman’s maternal glow radiating over the phone lines.  The feeling is warm and fuzzy, a radiance that curls around Izumi’s ears and exaggerates the cold, empty space where her womb should be. Winry and Ed are expecting, and the child is already four months in the making.

 It is unexpected, but they are so very, very happy, and Izumi and Sig are happy for them.  Really. It’s just the sort of thing you do for family. It’s the sort of sacrifice a mother would make.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Happy Holidays! Thank you for reading my submission for [Moms Made Fullmetal 2018](https://moms-made-fullmetal-2018.tumblr.com/). I know it wasn't an easy fic to digest. Every once in a while, I write something surprisingly personal. This is one of those times. 
> 
> As always, endless praise and imaginary props to my beta, [vino_and_doggos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vino_and_doggos/pseuds/vino_and_doggos). She's a joy to work with, but more importantly, she is a good friend. And while I haven't been following my usual reading, writing and reviewing protocol - because CHRISTMAS and the gift fic I'm drafting is a lengthy beast - I hope to get back on the wagon in January. If you're feeling awesome and generous, feedback is LIFE especially on personal pieces like this one. Kudos, bookmarks and comments are so appreciated. Also, check out my tumblr, [flourchildwrites](https://flourchildwrites.tumblr.com/). Send me asks, questions, comments or concerns. Whatever is on your mind!


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